The 2017 J3 League (referred to as the 2017 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2017 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the J3 League under its current name. The fixtures were announced on 26 January 2017.[3] The 2017 season started on 11 March, then ended on 3 December.

Meiji Yasuda J3 League
Season2017
ChampionsBlaublitz Akita
1st title
PromotedTochigi SC
Matches played272
Goals scored698 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorerNoriaki Fujimoto (Kagoshima United FC)
(24 goals)[1]
Highest attendance14,935[2]
Kitakyushu 1–1 Akita
(12 Mar 2017)
Lowest attendance273[2]
C-Osaka U-23 2-2 YS Yokohama
(22 Oct 2017)
Average attendance2,613[2]
2016
2018

Blaublitz Akita won their first title as a J.League club.

Clubs

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Osaka teams
Locations of the 2017 J3 League teams

A total of 17 teams took part in the league. 2016 J3 League champion Oita Trinita gained promotion to the J2 League, and was replaced by Giravanz Kitakyushu, that finished last in the 2016 J2 League. Oita made an immediate return to the J2 League after being relegated in 2015. Kitakyushu competed in the third tier for the first time under the J3 League name. Azul Claro Numazu made their debut in the third tier as a club.

Club Location Venue Capacity
Azul Claro Numazu Numazu Ashitaka Stadium 10,000
Blaublitz Akita Akita Akigin Stadium 4,992
Cerezo Osaka U-23 Osaka Kincho Stadium 19,904
Fukushima United Fukushima Toho Stadium 21,000
Gamba Osaka U-23 Suita Osaka Expo '70 Stadium 21,000
Gainare Tottori Tottori Bird Stadium 16,033
Giravanz Kitakyushu Kitakyushu Kitakyushu Stadium 15,066
Grulla Morioka Morioka Iwagin Stadium 4,946
Kagoshima United Kagoshima Kamoike Stadium 19,934
Kataller Toyama Toyama Toyama Athletic Stadium 25,251
Fujieda MYFC Fujieda Fujieda Soccer Field 13,000
Nagano Parceiro Nagano Nagano U Stadium 15,491
FC Ryukyu Okinawa Okinawa Athletic Stadium 25,000
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara Gion Stadium 15,300
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya Green Stadium 18,025
FC Tokyo U-23 Tokyo Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka 7,137
YSCC Yokohama Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454

Personnel and kits

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Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Azul Claro Numazu   Ken Yoshida   Eiichiro Ozaki Puma
Blaublitz Akita   Koichi Sugiyama   Naoyuki Yamada ATHLETA
Cerezo Osaka U-23   Yuji Okuma none Puma
Fukushima United   Kazuaki Tasaka   Takumi Watanabe hummel
Gainare Tottori   Ryuzo Morioka   Takuya Sugimoto hummel
Gamba Osaka U-23   Tsuneyasu Miyamoto none Umbro
Giravanz Kitakyushu   Takeo Harada   Tomoki Ikemoto bonera
Grulla Morioka   Toshimi Kikuchi   Kohei Doi Under Armour
Kagoshima United   Yasutoshi Miura   Akira Akao mitre
Kataller Toyama   Tetsuro Uki   Ryo Kubota Goldwin
Fujieda MYFC   Atsuto Oishi   Tadayo Fukuo gol.
Nagano Parceiro   Tetsuya Asano   Tomokazu Myojin Penalty
FC Ryukyu   Kim Jong-song   Noritaka Fujisawa sfida
SC Sagamihara   Sotaro Yasunaga   Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi gol.
Tochigi SC   Yuji Yokoyama   Koji Hirose ATHLETA
F.C. Tokyo U-23   Tadashi Nakamura none Umbro
YSCC Yokohama   Yasuhiro Higuchi   Masao Tsuji SVOLME

Results

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Blaublitz Akita (C) 32 18 7 7 53 31 +22 61 Ineligible for promotion
2 Tochigi SC (P) 32 16 12 4 44 24 +20 60 Promotion to 2018 J2 League[a]
3 Azul Claro Numazu 32 16 11 5 60 27 +33 59 Ineligible for promotion
4 Kagoshima United 32 17 4 11 49 37 +12 55
5 Nagano Parceiro 32 13 11 8 34 25 +9 50
6 FC Ryukyu 32 13 11 8 44 36 +8 50 Ineligible for promotion
7 Fujieda MYFC 32 12 11 9 50 43 +7 47
8 Kataller Toyama 32 13 8 11 37 33 +4 47
9 Giravanz Kitakyushu 32 13 7 12 44 37 +7 46
10 Fukushima United 32 13 4 15 39 43 −4 43 Ineligible for promotion
11 FC Tokyo U-23 32 12 7 13 36 47 −11 43
12 SC Sagamihara 32 9 12 11 34 41 −7 39
13 Cerezo Osaka U-23 32 8 11 13 39 43 −4 35
14 YSCC Yokohama 32 8 8 16 41 54 −13 32
15 Grulla Morioka 32 7 8 17 32 49 −17 29
16 Gamba Osaka U-23 32 7 5 20 31 65 −34 26
17 Gainare Tottori 32 4 9 19 31 63 −32 21
Source: 2017 MEIJI YASUDA J3 LEAGUE League table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4th) head-to-head results; 5th) disciplinary points; 6th) draw
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.

Results table

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Home \ Away AZU BLA C23 FUK GAI G23 GIR GRU KGU KAT MYF PAR RYU SGM TOC T23 YSC
Azul Claro Numazu 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 5–0 1–1
Blaublitz Akita 0–2 0–3 2–1 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–2 1–1 4–3
Cerezo Osaka U-23 1–4 1–3 2–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 2–2 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 0–1 2–2
Fukushima United 0–0 0–2 3–2 2–0 0–1 0–3 3–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 2–2 3–0
Gainare Tottori 2–2 0–3 1–3 1–2 0–0 3–4 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–6 1–0 2–3 1–2 1–1 0–6 1–2
Gamba Osaka U-23 2–3 2–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–6 0–2 1–7 0–1 3–2 4–3 1–2
Giravanz Kitakyushu 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 5–1 0–4 0–2 0–1 1–2 2–0 3–0 3–2 1–0 3–2
Grulla Morioka 2–1 1–3 2–3 5–1 1–2 0–2 0–3 0–0 0–3 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 0–1
Kagoshima United 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 5–0 2–1 0–1 5–2 1–5 3–0 1–0
Kataller Toyama 0–3 0–4 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 4–2 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–0
Fujieda MYFC 2–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–2 1–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 3–0
FC Ryukyu 2–2 1–6 1–0 2–1 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–1
SC Sagamihara 2–2 1–1 1–3 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 3–2 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2
Tochigi SC 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 4–1 1–0
FC Tokyo U-23 1–6 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 3–1 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–3 1–0 0–1 0–3
YSCC Yokohama 1–4 2–1 2–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 3–4 1–2 4–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 0–0 0–2 0–1
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2017. Source: J. League data site
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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As of match played 3 December 2017.[4]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Noriaki Fujimoto Kagoshima United FC 24
2   Takuma Sonoda Azul Claro Numazu 19
3   Tomoki Ikemoto Giravanz Kitakyushu 16
4   Tomohiro Tanaka Blaublitz Akita 15
5   Masao Tsuji YSCC Yokohama 14
6   Yu Tomidokoro FC Ryukyu 13
  Yuichiro Edamoto Fujieda MYFC
8   Keisuke Endo Fujieda MYFC 12
9   Junya Kato Gainare Tottori 11
10   Ken Hisatomi Blaublitz Akita 10

Attendances

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Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Giravanz Kitakyushu 95,023 14,935 3,864 5,939 +84.2%
2 Tochigi SC 82,352 11,191 2,758 5,147 +4.7%
3 Nagano Parceiro 68,095 8,049 2,652 4,256 −15.2%
4 SC Sagamihara 58,517 6,122 1,548 3,657 −15.8%
5 Kagoshima United 56,128 5,157 1,854 3,508 −4.3%
6 Kataller Toyama 50,536 6,383 1,917 3,159 −12.4%
7 Azul Claro Numazu 48,462 8,649 753 3,029 +29.9%
8 FC Ryukyu 40,132 6,888 1,032 2,508 +60.7%
9 Blaublitz Akita 37,819 3,933 1,355 2,364 −2.5%
10 FC Tokyo U-23 30,923 6,338 864 1,933 −30.9%
11 Gainare Tottori 24,938 2,435 573 1,559 −17.9%
12 Fukushima United 23,762 3,897 629 1,485 −11.5%
13 Fujieda MYFC 23,162 2,577 722 1,448 −5.4%
14 Grulla Morioka 21,385 3,590 520 1,337 +12.5%
15 Gamba Osaka U-23 19,620 2,317 523 1,226 −48.9%
16 YSCC Yokohama 15,222 1,264 559 951 −6.6%
17 Cerezo Osaka U-23 14,545 1,653 273 909 −38.9%
League total 710,621 14,935 273 2,613 −11.6%

Updated to games played on 3 December 2017
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
Relegated from J2. Promoted from JFL.

References

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  1. ^ STATS:J. LEAGUE.JP
  2. ^ a b c "2017J3 LEAGUE Attendance". J. League. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. ^ "017 J.League schedule announced". J. League. January 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  4. ^ "J.league.jp Japan Professional Football League".